The Wretched Fairy
by elpers21
Summary: "Be a fairy," she said. The wretched smiled. "I will settle for a spriggan."


Leaping behind cover, the rabbit bounced on its hind legs until it cleared the entirety of the granite rock, paws sliding through the topsoil as the creature steadied its balance and continued its escape. Hopping through the grass, the petit mammal continued on its mad journey, slip slashing through the transparent stream, sending droplets of water glistening upon its fur. The rabbit ran into the forest, until it arrived at the base of a large oak tree, so old and huge in fact, that its trunk has long since darkened in color, and numerous fungi-like organism have taken up base at its roots. Here the rabbit stopped, cautiously sniffing the air, darting its eyes from side to side, its ears flicking, trying to detect any sign of the predator which had been chasing it just a few minutes prior. After several moments, the animal, apparently satisfied that there was no danger, began tromping through the forest, skidding along carefully on the loose branches and leaves that laid on the forest floor.

As the animal continued on its way, it began searching for locations of food. Grass or any small leaf vegetation was hard to find in the forest, considering the thick canopy blocked out most light from getting through to the soil. The rabbit knew that it had to leave the tree-filled area in order to find food. It began curving through the trees, going in a semicircle from where it had entered the old, gloomy forest. Just as it was clear the tree line however, the rabbit heard a decrepit hiss, and a viper suddenly emerged from beneath a pile of fallen leaves, its gleaming fangs just a few short hops from the rabbit. The herbivore squeaked, eyes briefly widening, as it attempted to stop itself and turn around. However, before it could even properly stop its momentum, the viper lunged forward, a brief pain registering as the fangs bit into the rabbit's neck, and then…nothing.

A normal person would have just seen the long, pale green snake wrap its body around the now dead rabbit, releasing its fangs once it was certain that the prey was dead. Then, the carnivore would slowly drag the corpse back to its den, in order to properly finish its meal. The observer would see the rabbit's blank eyes, as its fur darkens from the drag to the snake's home, its always-twitching ears now, finally, at a haunting stop.

In short, anybody could have seen the million and first exchange in the natural process, as energy is transferred up the food chain, from the herbivore to the carnivore. But that isn't entirely right. No, not anybody could've seen just that. It took someone _alive_ to realize the purpose of nature, and life in its base form. In that form, you, just like I, are special, because we truly understand the meaning and preciousness of life, the essence that gave the universe its form. We are part of the grand plan for everything…in existence. I'm sure, too, that someone who was previous alive, but now is dead, can realize the meaning of life, as well. In that way, our definition of everybody, that is everyone that is alive or dead, involves some basic understanding of being, or to put it simply, of existing.

But there's a different type of special, as well. You see, just as it took someone alive (or dead) to realize the importance of life, it takes someone really, really special, and different, to not realize its importance. Now those people have gone through many name revisions throughout the course of history, so it's unfair to pin a single name on their category. However, I will be going by the most recent update of their definition, which I do believe refers to them as _monsters_.

These _monsters_ , believe it or not, actually serve as a purpose. Anyone whose taken at least some rudimentary secondary level science courses should know that the universe is always in a constant state of equilibrium. When one side gets too heavy, the scale tips in favor of the other side. And just as how there are too many individuals who abide by the rules of nature, once in a while, there must exist those who must tip the scale back to disorder, or chaos.

Now a monster would've seen the rabbit's soul leave its body, as the last essence of life faded from its physical being. The monster would've seen the brightness of the animal's soul, as it glimmered, rising through the air and gently leaving the scene of its death. The monster may have grown intrigued, and followed after the soul, past miles of forestry, deserts, plains, and even human settlement, until finally the soul came to the entrance of a cave. There the monster would've turned around and left, realizing its significance to both it and its kind.

The rabbit's soul, meanwhile, would continue onwards into the twisted passage, all through the darkness, so oppressing that its natural glow couldn't even illuminate the walls that was just a few inches to its sides. Hours pass throughout this incredible gloom, with temperatures dropping to the point where even the greatest of the fire dragons, the flame dragon king Igneel, could not maintain his own natural boiling body heat. On and on the rabbit soul went down the hole, until finally, it emerged in an underground cavern. There it immediately floated to the only non-dead being in the cavern, a being that other monsters will only refer to the as the _wretched_.

The _wretched_ is a monster, of course, yet with all the incredible specialty that identification provides, the wretched is apparently a special monster. Monsters, as discussed, provide the universe with a break from the rules of nature, which in of itself would terrify the dragon king himself. But the _wretched_ went a step farther, or perhaps it was three. You see, he tried to _abolish_ the rules. Ah, I must apologize for lying again. The other monsters did not just call him the wretched; they also referred to him as the _monster of all monsters_. For spacing purposes, I will just be referring to him by the former name.

For his punishment of abolishing the inherent rules of the universe, the wretched was assigned the one quick surefire punishment worse than death. You see, the wretched was separated from the living flow of the universe, and its all encompassing grasp. Normally when such a phenomenon, the being affected would simply vanish out of existence, forever. But no, that wouldn't be punishment enough for the wretched. No, the wretched had to learn the exact terror of what it tried to do to the universe. What better way was there than make him the exception to all the rules? Surely there cannot be any better way to learn the terror that comes from abolishing the laws of existence, when you yourself is a blight on all the rules preserving this world!

Well, in any case, no matter what the wretched did, he will always remain a contradiction to the rules, not an anomaly, like the other monsters, but as a contradiction. Every single one of his actions will contradict the rules that he so desired abolished. And just as a beam of light entering a room full of mirrors bounces so many times until its particles grow disoriented and confused, so too did the wretched, until it withdrew from the world, and sought refuge deep beneath the earth. Oops, sorry. The wretched is an _it_ , not a _he_. A contradiction can't possibly have a gender.

In any case, now the being contradicts even itself, serving as a guardian of death for all recently deceased creatures, guiding them to the underworld, despite the fact that it was, for all intents and purposes, alive. Or at least, not dead. Or would it be considered undead?

Wordlessly, the wretched lifted its head and reached out one pale hand, lightly petting the head of the rabbit. Without warning, a dark miasma of energy roared of the being, consuming the soul, until the brightness of the creature completely vanished from the chamber. Such is the life of the wretched, living to kill already dead creatures to send them to the land of the dead.

The wretched's arm dropped back to its lap, and the cavern was still once more, any insects or other extremophiles capable of surviving so deep into the ground having long since been killed and sent to the dead by the wretched.

 _How long has it been?_

The wretched wondered to itself. Of course, given the longevity of his lifespan, it was beyond plausible that the being must have asked the same question, thousands of times. And yet, the same inquiry managed to make itself known, once again.

 _Well, who cares._

A second thought made itself known, this one belonging to an entirely different voice, or at least the mental voice that the wretched registers. Yet, had any others somehow gained telepathy and listened in the mental conversation, monster or not, they would've registered the two voice as being entirely the same.

Perhaps they were. After all, the wretched was the anomaly in existence, not the other way around.

Or perhaps the wretched had long since gone off the deep end and somehow managed to create entities within its head that are separate to its own being. You know, the usual contradictions that surround itself.

The wretched didn't care. The wretched didn't care for anything anymore. Why should it, when it could end the existence of the strongest species, the dragons, with a single snap of its fingers? When it can literally erase the soul of every single living organism it meets?

When no one, nothing poses anything resembling an excitement to you….well, you stop giving f*cks.

 _Don't lie to yourself._

This time, the first voice returned, berating the second, yet without the slightest change in pitch, tone, emotion, or anything that indicated a shift in the voice had occurred. For all intents and purposes, the phrase could have been said as an internal joke, or it could've been said as a death threat.

Cause hey, the wretched should by all rights be allowed to have a internal war, in which its mind literally tears itself apart, right?

 _My apologies, first,_ the second replied, perhaps truly meaning the words as it attempted to withdraw its earlier statement, to no avail. A never-ending memory can go a long way in breaking an immortal, after all.

 _You better_ , the first replied, and suddenly there was pain. Oh yes, so much pain. The second had not felt anything so pleasurable in such a long time. The pain gave sensation, and the sensation managed to drop calmly through the internal mind, swiftly falling until with a soft plunk it merged with the bottomless water pool. A small ripple drifted over the surface of the sea of emotions. And for just a split moment, when the ripple reached the banks of the sea, the second felt the stirrings of… _something._ This revelation caused the sea to flutter violently, hurricanes drifting through the chilling waters as fear fluttered through the second.

The first, sensing the second's discomfort, swiftly withdrew the pain, and quickly the second recovered, back to its prior state.

 _My apologies for the overflow, second,_ the first began. _I did not expect for_ that _to occur again._

A few swift moments, and the second responded. _I do not want nor need your apologies first. I simply want to feel pain without_ that _occurring. Is that such an unpleasant request?_

The first chuckled silently. _Well, you never know. It only happens sometimes, after all._

At this the second had to agree. While the _thing_ was absolutely terrifying, the fact of the matter is that sometimes the two can cr-

A flutter of light entered the cavern through the passage, and the two voices stopped abruptly. The wretched didn't move, for one, two, three…

When the recently departed soul appeared before the wretched, then the wretched lifted its head, something it had not done earlier with the rabbit.

This time, soulless obsidian eyes met the mesmerizing glitter of the pulsating white orb, its very light managing to fill almost the entirety of the underground chamber.

Without any warning, the wretched thrust forth its hand, finger extended as it pierced through the light, rapidly draining the soul as solid blackness entered into the spirit.

The orb of light hummed in a mockery of concern, before shuddering and giving up on the struggle. The inky darkness completely interspersed with the soul, eating away at the light until nothing remained. With the depletion of an illuminating source, the cavern rapidly fell back to its preternal darkness.

And, for the first time, the wretched spoke. For just a flicker of an instant, something within the dead eyes _shone._

"No afterlife for the dragons."


End file.
